The former Germany International believes its time for the 15-year-old to make a giant leap into the BVB first team
Former Borussia Dortmund midfielder Lars Ricken is of the opinion that Youssoufa Moukoko “needs to take the next step in development”, which is getting integrated into the BVB first team.
The 15-year-old Yaounde-born striker has been making headlines for a while thanks to his knack for scoring goals with the Dortmund age-grade teams.
His more than 100 goals for the Under 17s and 19s has led to calls for him to be moved to the first team, however German football laws ensured a player can’t make his senor bow until he turns 17.
Dortmund pushed for reform with the DFB and it has finally been agreed that the age is reduced to 16.
This will give way for Moukoko to make his big break later this year when he turns 16 in November.
“He [Moukoko] has scored almost 130 goals in the past three years. At least you have to give the boy the opportunity to take the next step in development,” Ricken told Sport1 as per SPOX.
Ricken is pleased about the new development that now sees German football at par with other leagues who hand debuts at the age of 16.
“Foreign leagues have had a competitive advantage so far. That cannot be in the spirit of German football if we lent Youssoufa to England, for example, to take this next step,” he added.
Some critics think it is too early to throw in players at such an early age, but Ricken argues that Moukoko’s case is different.
“We can’t just blindly throw someone in. It’s also not about increasing the market value of a talent through early deployments,” the 43-year old continued.
“It is clear to me that these are absolute exceptional cases. There aren’t even a handful of players that can be considered over the next few years.”
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